I finally purchased my holy grail, a md 57 no dash 6". It was the one pistol I regretted selling 25 years ago. I still have the dies, but all my brass and all the reloading data I had for it is nowhere to be found. I have read the thread below on the .41 mag, but still have a question or two.. What reloading manual has the 'most' or 'best' data on reloading for cast bullets? The Lyman's is thin, and only covers jacketed bullets. Alliant's website is no help, and internet searches tun up little useful data.

Also, I cast my own for the other calibers I own, but before I buy molds, I want to try some one else's bullets. Who has offerings in the .41 that you like?

Thanks

DavidAGO

hornady

February 15, 2010, 07:44 AM

By far the best cast bullet book is the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual. Now most of my molds are Lyman. But I do have a couple Lee. And have had no trouble adjusting the loads with the Lyman book. .

Nevmavrick

February 17, 2010, 11:25 AM

Welcome back to the world of the .41, DavidAGO.
If you enjoy your M57 as much as I enjoy mine, you'll be one HAPPY CAMPER.
I don't think that the commercial cast boolits will deliver quite what you're looking for, if you're going to cast later.
The commercial casters make a rather-hard boolit that doesn't do well when you load light. There is a tendency to lead, and you need a softer boolit.
My favorite,FWIW, is the RCBS 210KT, one of the cavities to which is HPed.
I also cast with a Lyman 410610 mold which is a 215gr SWCGC and has an HPed cavity.
Much of my plinking is done with a Lyman 170gr TCBB that has had the BB removed.
The main thing when casting is fit. The pros usually size to .410", which is fine for jacketed, but is probably too small. My guns shoot much better with .413", but .411" or .412" might be better in yours.
The guys over at CastBoolits have a lot of different loads for the .41 that are interesting, and use quite a few different lubes, from super-soft to quite-hard with TL thrown in for good measure.
Have fun,
Gene

ForneyRider

February 26, 2010, 12:18 PM

castboolits site did a group buy on 255gr molds.

Lee used to make a big bullet mold, now they just have the 210 and 215gr molds.

Hamour

February 27, 2010, 07:27 PM

MP molds has Brass cramer hollow point molds for sale, they are extras from a group buy on castboolits. Either plain base or gas check.

http://mp-molds.com/index.php?pr=E_-_shop

You can either cast hollow points (200gr) or solid (220gr) by turning the pins. Very versatile molds.

My bullet (not the non-word gunboard urbanic term boolit) is Lyman 410459 cast of 3:2 mix of wheelweights:linotype. This is a 210 grain+/- Keith type slug which, unfortunately, has been discontinued by Lyman. It can be driven to 1,400 fps without a gascheck when sized & lubed correctly without leading. The earlier versions of this mold featured a round grease goove while the later versions have the square groove which is in keeping with a true Keith style bullet.